To Johnny Weir’s funs dedicated…

A 23-year-old Johnny Weir after having moved to a separate flat and having found a new coach Galina Zmievskaya, really got the second wind, changed the whole program and was inspired and eager to win at U.S. Competition in Saint Paul, Minn. Last year Johnny was the third and this time he was determined to show judges, audience and all his rivals, that he was working his fingers to the bone in order to prove that this third place will never happen again. And really, with his new coach he had time only to eat, sleep, clean and skate, skate and skate.

Johnny’s main rival is current U.S. Champion Evan Lysacek, with whom Weir has developed the most intriguing rivalry in U.S. men's skating in recent years. Johnny himself explains this rivalry in the following way, “I think that there is a rivalry just because we both compete for the United States and we both are competing for the same title. I think that it is exciting for figure skating, especially U.S. Men's figure skating, but that is where I see the rivalry ending. It doesn't matter to me what he does in his life or on the ice. [Lysacek] is just another person out there.”

But this time luck seemed to have forgotten about both: both sportsmen’s programs contained small mistakes. Still Johnny presented his program in a much better way, besides he got 1.5 points more. But the final result was a shock to everybody. The final score was equal for both sportsmen: 244.77. This result is sure to be debated and discussed. In order to make this score equal, the judges gave Lysacek more for elements, and gave Johnny less for technical merit. Free skating won Lysacek, as the result, he became the winner. Johnny took the second prize accordingly.

Unjust refereeing is now being widely discussed. Still Johnny’s fans and other people who have seen everything with their own eyes, know for sure, who was better this time…

Liz Murray – a heroine of today?

We often grumble that we don’t have something, deprived of something and that the whole world is against us! And we are so nice, so clever and so diligent! How can other people and the whole world fail to understand this???

It sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it? People, who are really SOMETHING, will always find themselves despite all hardships and problems, because they want it, they want to live and enjoy the life. There are many such examples, but today I’d like to speak a bit about Liz Murray. Everybody must have heard her story. What do you think of it? Did she have enough reasons to be angry with her parents, who had sold all valuable things, to get more drugs, with the school, where she hadn’t wanted to go in order not to be offended, with the whole society, that allow such things as drug addiction, AIDS, homeless children… But she wasn’t… And she isn’t…

She managed to escape from that terrible life and began her own, happy, bright and kind. She doesn’t have any malice in her heart and says that she loves her parents, notwithstanding all problems and hardships of her childhood. Determined not to be defined by her circumstances, she recognized education as the key to a fresh beginning and a whole new life. She earned her high school diploma in just two years — and won a scholarship to Harvard University that would turn a penniless girl into a well-educated young woman with a bright future. With her examples of hard work, determination and daily commitment to achievement, she instantly becomes an inspiration to audiences everywhere. That same gutsy strength that pulled her from the streets now transforms the lives of others, from student groups to business audiences in need of inspiration to overcome their own obstacles. And everybody listens to her and believes her, because she doesn’t intend to teach others, she simply tells her life-story, sincerely, truly, clearly. And this makes her stand out from the herd of other speakers, who do have the gift of the gap, but, perhaps, they have not gone through all those hardships and obstacles.

They say, that hardships and problems make us stronger. I’d probably agree. Especially, taking into account Liz’s example.

Now almost the whole world know Liz’s story, due to the film Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story.

I’m fascinated by the strength and endurance of this young woman. In one of her interviews Liz said that she want to have a good stable family, children, all that she was actually deprived of in her childhood. Besides, she doesn’t give up her work with homeless people. I want to wish her all the best in her life and work! She has suffered enough to have right to begin a really new life!

Robyn Bercovici

Robyn Bercovici, 27, was found dead in Lake Michigan near Fullerton Avenue on the North Side in Chicago Saturday afternoon. She is said to have left her building last Wednesday night wearing a down coat, but never went back. It is not so far clear, what caused the girl’s death. Officially it is "an unwitnessed drowning", but whether it was or not is not so far clear.

Robyn Bercovici was 27 year old and lived in a Gold Coast high rise tower near the lake in Chicago. She was just an ordinary girl and liked those things which most of young girls like. She liked TV shows such as “The Office” and “Arrested Development.” She liked movies such as Shawshank Redemption. The 27 year old graduated with a Masters Degree from Loyola and did her undergraduate work at Boston University. She was working as a psychiatric social worker prior to her death.

I wish I could write about Robyn Bercovici at present and then in future… But unfortunately it is impossible. The aim of this post is to make you remember this girl not only by her name, but taking into account who she was and was she did, what she wanted to do…

All my thoughts and prayers are with Robyn's family and friends!

Tara Guelig and “a reality show” ad

Trade and services are impossible without ads. And recently advertisements have begun to look like reality shows with real people taking part in them. A bright example of such an ad is that with participation of Tara Guelig, a girl of 26, who holds a bachelor's degree from The College of William and Mary and a master's degree from George Washington University.

Tara did not expect to become a hero of the ad. It so happened that some time ago she met with an accident - ran into the back of a truck at very low speed. She wrote GEICKO (the insurance giant) a letter. When everything was arranged, she just sent them a note saying thank you for great customer service. And in a year she got an invitation to take part in an ad, acting herself. So GEICO flew Tara and a guest (sister and Wellsboro High School senior Julian Guelig) to Los Angeles, first-class, in October. GEICO planned originally to pair Tara with world-renowned magician David Copperfield. But when Copperfield disappeared, GEICO brought in The Pips, Gladys Knight's backup singers, to pinch-hit.

Tara knew almost nothing about the Pips, but her mother told her about these nice well-known people. The Pips are actually a brother of Gladys Knight's, and a cousin, the third Pip passed away, so they have one of Gladys Knight's backup singers from Vegas to fill in.

Tara enjoyed working with the Pips who were really friendly and sociable and seemed to enjoy what they did. Even the number of takes (in one day of taping, a crew of 30 to 40 workers did 70 takes of Tara with the Pips) didn’t spoil the whole impression of the action.

Tara appeared in the ad without makeup and in her usual clothes. "They wanted to contrast me with The Pips and make it believable that I was a real person," Tara said. She expected that the whole team of specialists would work with her, but representatives of GEICKO wanted to emphasize that she was a real person and not an actress with the learned part of words. Even when she looked too unnatural or the words seemed to be too rehearsed, thay had to do everything once again.

Tara became famous after the advertisement had been shown on TV. She got a number of calls from her friends and acquaintances. "One of my old track coaches from college called me (Sunday). My ex-boyfriends are calling me. It has been a lot of fun in that sense," Tara said. Tara’s mother Daria said that her daughter had a nice ability of turning bad events into good events!

Alexandra Kerry’s Dress is still in the memory?

As they say, every cloud has a silver lining. And several years ago everyone spoke about Alexandra Kerry and her appearance at the Cannes Film Festival in a see-through dress. But apart from wearing such a dress, Alexandra has other factors of her biography to be proud of.

Alexandra Forbes Kerry was born in September 5, 1973. She is the elder daughter of 2004 US Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry. Her mother is Julia Thorne, who was married to John Kerry from 1970 until 1988. The couple subsequently divorced. Kerry holds a B.A. from Brown University and an M.F.A. degree from AFI Conservatory. She had a minor acting role in the 2000 Movie State and Main, appeared in a short film entitled The Last Full Measure and took a part in the 2004 film Spartan playing a bartender.

Kerry's appearance at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival received much media attention as a result of her father's presidential bid and her attire. Flash lighting from cameras reflecting off her body made the fabric of her dress almost transparent, similar to the effect of one-way glass. She wore no brassiere. Normally lit, the dress was not transparent. Nonetheless, critics questioned whether Kerry knew of the effect beforehand. The controversy was brief. Kerry in one of her interviews said, that she didn’t know about such a “quality” of her dress. Answering the question if she knew that her dress became see-through, Alexandra said: “No! I walked through the whole thing and nobody said a word. It wasn't until the next morning when my press person said, "We have a little problem..." Then my stepbrother checked the Internet, and he was like, "Don't look!" It was a complete shock and surprise. Even more of a surprise was that people made it as much of an issue as they did”. Her father eventually turned everything into a joke, but Alexandra herself couldn’t tell her father about this incident. Her younger sister Vanessa did.

I still cannot understand, what so unusual is in this incident!!! Our celebrities allow themselves to wear almost nothing, and that seems to be ok! The fewer clothes a woman has, the better impression she makes on the public. Sure thing, here we should also take into account Alexandra’s father. But as far as this point is concerned, I see nothing bad here either. In the long run, any father may be proud if his daughter is so pretty and has such a nice va-va-voom body!

Old and nice “Lonesome Dove”

So many men, so many minds. This saying is familiar to all of us and may be referred to different spheres of our life. But it is also true that almost all people (who like westerns, of course) find an old film “Lonesome Dove” one of the best films in its genre. What makes it so special, everyone decides for himself/herself taking into account his/her own preferences and professional qualities. The specialists of film industry pay attention to the quality of shooting, episodes, play of light, number of takes etc. But we, ordinary viewers, are looking forward to real emotions, those we feel every day, perhaps, sometimes a bit ideal, but human, characteristic of all people. The book was published in 1985 and already next year it became a bestseller and won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. It was then made into a four-part TV miniseries, which won six Emmy Awards and was nominated for 13 others. It spawned two follow-up miniseries, Return to Lonesome Dove and Comanche Moon.

The plot of the book is not very complicated. But it comprises everything typical of westerns: adventures, danger, love, dreams etc. Who wouldn’t like to distract from everyday life and watch this nice old movie?

If you ask me why I decided to recall “Lonesome Dove” and write about it, I won’t be able to answer this question at once. Probably, I simply wanted to express my own feelings and come back to something pleasant and nice. I have several favorite old films and books, and “Lonesome Dove” is one of them. Even of you know how all the events are going to develop and what happens next and next, you still watch it with pleasure emphasizing with the characters and feeling what they are likely to feel. And even if you say that this is not quite a “hot topic” I won’t get offended, because everything new is simply well forgotten old and from time to time we need to come back to those things, books and movies which are dear to us and not because of socko box office success, but because of some other things, clears and close to all of us! You know what I mean, don’t you?

Tenzing Norgay and His Dearest Wish…

Do we know much about those people, about whom we really should have the least inkling, be aware of what they had done and why they had gained posthumous recognition.

Tenzing Norgay, often referred to as Sherpa Tenzing, a man who came from a peasant family from Khumbu in Nepal, couldn’t read or write, became known all over the world due to his reaching the summit of Everest – the highest mountain in the world.

The young Tenzing knew nothing of this mountain called Everest, but soon found out that it was the same mountain as Chomolungma. Tenzing knew something about Chomolungma. While grazing his father's yaks he had seen it many times rising high above the nearer peaks, exalting the final rays of daylight with its crystal pennant of wind-blown snow. His mother, like all Sherpa mothers, had told him about Chomolungma; in the Sherpa tongue it was said to mean “The Mountain So High No Bird Can Fly Over It.”

Since his early childhood he has been dreaming of climbing the mountain and took part in numerous expeditions to Everest, but due to different reasons and circumstances all the attempts fell flat up to the 29th May 1959. He and his companion Edmund Hillary were first people to reach the summit of Everest. Technically it is still unknown who of two men was the first, but Tenzing Norgay never wanted to make a mountain out of a molehill and used to say: "If it is a shame to be the second man on Mount Everest, then I will have to live with this shame." Two companions remained good friends till the end of their lives.

Almost everything is known about the life of the world known mountaineer. He was married three times, had 5 children and a number of followers. His son Jamling Tenzing Norgay reached the summit of Everest in 1996.

After his dearest wish had come true, Sherpa became director of field training for the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute in Darjeeling. He died of bronchial condition in Darjeeling, West Bengal, India in 1986.

This information is not full, of course, but I didn’t put such a task – to retell the biography of Sherpa – I simply wanted to attract your attention to actions of such people as Tenzing Norgay, who spent his entire life trying to achieve his aim. His life was far from being easy: in his childhood he ran errands for his family (there were 13 children there), later worked hard to earn money for his family; wars, hardships, misunderstanding and lots of other problems didn’t break him, but made him strong and ready to fight till the end. Otherwise he wouldn’t have managed to reach the summit of Everest. "It has been a long road...From a mountain coolie, a bearer of loads, to a wearer of a coat with rows of medals who is carried about in planes and worries about income tax." The whole life story is combined in one sentence. I have nothing more to add…

Where is the secret of S.J. Parker’s “Bitten’s” popularity?

Probably, creating her own line of clothes Sarah Jessica Parker didn’t even expect to get such a success. Since summer 2007 it hasn’t lost its popularity – on the contrary, more and more women give preference to style, suggested by the celebrity. Her words "Fashion is not a luxury, it's a right" has really become a motto of millions of women who have an opportunity to dress themselves fashionably and do not pay through the nose.

Where is the secret of “Bitten’s” popularity? In the price? In the quality of things? In the name of the designer? Everything, I believe is here included. The collection is affordable to all women, the clothes are very practical, convenient and qualitative. But what makes this fashion line so special? First of all, sizes range from 2-22 - a huge change from the usual celebrity lines that cater to the thin shopper! And each woman without ideal 90-60-90 is sure to find a good thing for herself and feel at ease wearing it. And in addition to having plenty of sizes available the biggest draw for "Bitten" is that nearly everything costs less than twenty dollars!

Sarah didn’t try to sell her name – she did what she considered to be right and didn’t lose! Here are some models from “Bitten”:

The collection consists of different styles: an office line “Classics”, everyday clothing “Casual”, ultra fashionable “Trend” and evening apparels and lingerie line “Lounge”. In the clothes from Sarah Jessica Parker each woman feels like a queen and as Sarah rightly points out, "Women should be able to wear great clothes and not lie in bed at night feeling guilty about how much money they've spent. High quality, luxurious clothes do not need to cost as much as we've been led to think."

I am really grateful to Sarah Jessica Parker for “Bitten”. A woman should always be a woman, despite the fact how much money she has in her purse and without thinking how much money she can spend on her clothes this month.

Sarah created “Bitten” according to her own feelings and preferences in fashion. And her desire to do something pleasant for each woman – that is worth a lot! If it hadn’t been done in all sincerity, it wouldn’t have gained such popularity. Agree?

Britney’s popularity has sunk into oblivion???

People say that life is a rather changeable and unpredictable thing. Today you find yourself in the floodlight, enjoying the fame of a pop queen and tomorrow you have neither your career, nor your family or close people’s support. The same happened to the long-suffering Britney. After her divorce with Federline she couldn’t come around. She was seen in public without underwear, drunk, she shaved her head, beat a car with an umbrella and spent a month in rehab. But misfortunes never come single. And a week ago Britney was taken to hospital after she had refused to return her children to her ex-husband. A court commissioner gave sole physical and legal custody of the former couple's two little boys to Federline and suspended the troubled pop star's visitation rights. But as a jealous mother, Britney couldn’t agree to such a state of things, but she didn’t manage to prove her ability to take care of her children.

The people of art are known to be very emotional, hot-tempered and energetic. All these qualities may be referred to Britney. She gained recognition and popularity in the young age and can be really proud of it – the whole world knew and still knows her, but, unfortunately, in the worst light. What I meant to say is that popularity passes very quickly and it’s not an easy thing to try to live with the realization that you are not popular any longer. But where there is a will, there is a way. And the strong-willed Britney is unlikely to give up. As each normal human being she has a very difficult period in her life, but we choose for ourselves how we solve our problems and whether we remain human after we have come out of it, or … we don’t have enough spiritual strength to resist all the troubles of our life.

Nevertheless the celebrity is now in hospital, visitations are limited, she is sure to undergo examination. And “Spears’ scandal” is being discussed all over the world. The details of her meeting with police are interpreted, misinterpreted and will soon become the property of nation.

I don’t approve of Britney’s behavior; I can only sympathize with her – when her life goes all to pieces she can not even concentrate on her own problems without their reflection in newspapers. The constant lack of privacy and constant attention of paparazzi do not add moral health. And we are not ideal either to judge this confused young woman of 26 years old, who has lost her guidelines and faith in her own strength. I hope, she will find some inner strength and her close people will help her to go through these difficulties.

If you have anything to add or simply want to express your point of you, I’ll be glad if you leave a comment to this hot topic. I have expressed my point of view and what do you think?